Of all LEED-certified buildings globally, only 6 percent have achieved Platinum certification.

GE’s data center supports more than $1 billion in job-creating business investments.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NYSE:GE) – GE Appliances & Lighting today announced the opening of a revolutionary new data center at its Louisville, Ky., Appliance Park headquarters. GE approached the design, construction and operation of this facility with the intent of reducing data center energy consumption and lowering environmental impact, while providing tremendous computing power to support major product and infrastructure investments now and well into the future.

“Gartner urges action on data center emissions”
Of all LEED-certified buildings globally, only 6 percent have achieved Platinum certification, and GE’s new facility is the first LEED-Platinum data center in all of Kentucky.3 GE’s environmental achievement is made even more impressive considering data center emissions worldwide are growing faster than many other types of carbon emissions.4 In fact, a McKinsey & Company study estimates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from data centers will quadruple to exceed emissions from the airline industry by 2020,5 due to the rapid growth in global demand for computing power.

“GE is joining an elite group of LEED-Platinum data centers around the world,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). “Given the amount of energy data centers consume, achieving LEED Platinum will help GE reduce its environmental footprint, while moving the industry forward in its effort to reduce the global environmental impact of IT operations.”

In addition to installing innovative, high-efficiency cooling systems, GE is installing high-density servers to pack more computing power per square foot, reducing the size of the data center floor by half compared to the data center it replaces. This means that less energy is needed to cool the space.

GE is reducing water consumption inside the building by 42 percent compared to the industry baseline7 by installing ultra low-flow fixtures. Outside the building, GE is reducing water consumption by 100 percent8.

GE has offset 35 percent of the data center’s predicted annual energy consumption through the purchase of off-site renewable energy9.

“As GE invests in the business and creates more manufacturing jobs in the U.S., our new high-efficiency data center will help us manage energy costs so we can compete in a global marketplace,” said Alan Kocsi, chief information officer, GE Appliances & Lighting. “GE’s new data center will also provide the high-density computing necessary to support global business growth and significant manufacturing-revitalization efforts that will provide customers with innovative technologies, high-quality products, and better customer service.”

Greener from the get-go: Rather than building the new data center from scratch, GE revitalized an existing building for the new data center; in fact, GE maintained 98.3 percent of the walls, floors and roof of unutilized factory space.

An investment in future growth and customer service: GE invested in the first commercial UNIVAC computer in the early 1950s when Appliance Park opened, and it is now with that same pioneering spirit that GE is preparing for future growth. Exceeding industry standards for computing power, GE’s data center houses servers designed to operate at 18 to 24 kilowatts (kW) per cabinet, compared to the industry average of 4 to 7 kW per cabinet.12 This sheer computing “horsepower” provides GE with the flexibility to meet ever-changing customer demands.

Helping revitalize the U.S. manufacturing base: The new data center will also support business investments across the appliances and lighting product portfolios. Specifically, the new center supports GE Appliances’ $1 billion investment to upgrade all of its major appliance product lines and create Manufacturing Centers of Excellence, which combined will create 1,300 U.S. jobs by 2014. The new data center will operate information systems that enable technology and manufacturing teams to run state-of-the-art factories and:

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED green building certification system is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

About U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. With a community comprising 79 local affiliates, nearly 16,000 member organizations, and more than 167,000 LEED Professional Credential holders, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. GDP from 2009-2013. USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students. www.usgbc.org.

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1 Compared to the ASHRAE 90.1 building code for energy efficiency.

2 U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) and Green Building Certification institute (www.gbci.org).

3 U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) and Green Building Certification institute (www.gbci.org).

8 No permanent irrigation system was installed, reducing water consumption by 100% for landscaping purposes. Data for LEED analyzed and independently verified by the Green Building Certification Institute.

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